Politicians are feeling the heat out on the campaign trail with some voters taking unusual steps to demonstrate their anger over the collapse of the economy.

This photo above, courtesy of Provision photography in Cork has gone viral and is an amusing reminder of the free cheese debacle three months ago when Fianna Fail announced subsidised food for all while the country was collapsing into the arms of the IMF.

Voters experienced another, more serious, journey back in time courtesy of Permanent TSB, one of the country's largest mortgage companies.

It has hiked up its fixed mortgage rate to nearly 9% for some customers with some mortgage packages going up 3%.

The two-year fixed rate at the bank is now up from 5.25% to 7.25% with the five-year fixed rate up from 5.75% to 8.75%.

The 10-year fixed rate will increase from 6.1% to 9.1% – although this is said to be academic as the Irish have not historically opted for 10-year fixed rates.

Interest rate now back at levels seen in 1994

It takes the interest rate back to levels not seen for almost 20 years. According to the Central Statistics Office, the last time rates were at this level was back in 1993 and 1994.

The 2% and 3% hikes have shocked the market – particularly as Permanent TSB had already attracted controversy just seven days ago when it put its standard variable rate up a full 1%.

The bank has effectively been out of the market for new business for the last 18 months and experts says the hike is designed to force customers coming off fixed-rate packages onto standard variable rates that the bank can then increase whenever it wishes.

Or, as one banking analyst told me today: not only does Permanent TSB not have the money to lend, it is under pressure to sweat extra cash out of its existing customer base to cover loss-making tracker mortgages.

"It is obvious from their balance sheet that they don't have the money to lend. Their loan to deposit ratio is 220%. And they are going to have to drive this down to 100-110%."

"They are applying a pincer movement, pushing the fixed rate through the roof and cutting off the avenue to switch to a fixed rate and push them into ever increasing standard variable rates," said the analyst who did not want to be named.

Customers will be given 20 days to consider their options which will be limited.

"They have got a captive market here because so many people are in negative equity, they can't move to another bank," said Frank Conway of the Irish Mortgage Corporation.

Permanent TSB is in a particularly bad position in terms of its loan-to-deposit ratio as it is heavily exposed to the loss-making tracker mortgages, the terms of which cannot be changed.

It is one of the top three mortgage lenders in the market with an estimated 200,000 customers. Just a third of these are on a standard variable rate with the remainder on fixed and loss-making tracker mortgages.

The fear now is that Permanent TSB's tactics will be aped by the other banks piling pressure on an electorate already hurting from wage cuts, job losses and increased taxes.

If you have been affected by the loan increases or have a story to tell feel free to comment below or contact me on guardian.dublin@gmail.com